Smoke shops sue woman over synthetic pot comments

SEABROOK — A local woman who spoke out against two smoke shops in town that she claims are selling synthetic marijuana under the guise of "incense" is being sued by both businesses for defamation.

Patrick Cronin

SEABROOK — A local woman who spoke out against two smoke shops in town that she claims are selling synthetic marijuana under the guise of "incense" is being sued by both businesses for defamation.

Tammy Hersey Stevens Calabrese said she was served the lawsuit filed at Rockingham Superior Court on Wednesday, two days after selectmen unanimously approved an ordinance banning synthetic marijuana from town roads.

Attorney Richard N. Foley, representing Seabrook smoke shops the Smoking Monkey and Smokers City Inc., stated in court documents that Calabrese defamed the two stores when she stated at a public selectmen meeting that they are "selling a product with full knowledge ... that it is harming people." She made a similar assertion, the suit claims, on social media.

The stores have argued in the past that the product in question is a legal herbal incense that clearly states on the package that it is "not for human consumption."

In addition to defamation, the stores are suing her for tortious interference with advantageous business relationships and loss of business reputation. They are seeking monetary damages and a preliminary injunction to force Calabrese to cease and desist from making "derogatory and false statements" about their stores.

A hearing has been scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 24.

"I think they are trying to intimidate me," Calabrese said just hours after a law enforcement officer came to her house to serve her with the lawsuit. "They stand to lose a lot of money if they're forced to stop selling this. ... I'm not a wealthy woman. You can't get blood out of stone. So good luck to them."

Calabrese and others in town have spoken against the products being sold, claiming the stores know that people are buying the product to smoke it and get high. The incense, bearing names such as Stoopid, Twilite and XXX, is made of synthetic cannabinoids, which, when smoked, mimic the effects of THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana.

But Calabrese was the only person at the selectmen's meeting, where the issue was discussed, to state the stores' names. Calabrese said she doesn't regret her comments and feels if the stores were just selling incense, they wouldn't fight so hard.

"They would have taken it off the shelves," she said. "But they are making a lot of money and they are making it because people are getting addicted. When there is money to be made, they're going to fight as hard as they can."

Calabrese said she has seen firsthand the effects of the "drug" after her husband became addicted to it.

"He couldn't stop," she said. "He lost his job. His whole personality changed and it basically ended our marriage."

Her son also became addicted to it and on two occasions, she had to rush him to the hospital.

"Because of those stores, my life has been a living hell," she said. "They (the stores) didn't care when (my husband) was taking our money, ruining our finances (to buy the product and get high). They didn't care. As long as he had the cash, they gave it to him."

Calabrese said she doesn't have any regrets about the comments she made.

"Somebody has to stand up and say it," she said. "If someone has to take a bullet, then I will take the bullet. People are getting very sick and people have died from this product. That is a fact. My only regret would not be doing anything."

The stores also recently threatened to sue the town if it kept replaying the Sept. 9 selectmen's meeting discussing synthetic marijuana (where Calabrese made her comments) on its cable channel. The town refused. Town Manager William Manzi said attorney Rob Ciandella replied on behalf of the town, "citing the proper New Hampshire statutes that showed we didn't have to meet the request (to take the videos off the air)."

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